


Time for Honesty

by nynaeve_almeara



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Season 3 Finale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-12-24 14:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21100646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nynaeve_almeara/pseuds/nynaeve_almeara
Summary: Marinette decides as the new guardian she should know Chat Noir’s identity and he should know hers. She knows it can be dangerous, but she just can’t hold the burden of being the guardian of the miraculouses by herself.





	1. Responsibilities

After having placed the gramophone with the miraculouses box in a corner of her workplace and having done her best to surround it by her designs to make it blend as much as possible in her room, the reality of her new role as guardian of the miraculouses finally completely sank into her. She let herself fall on her back on her chaise lounge and stared at the ceiling, trying to calm herself. Tikki came out and curled up against her cheek:

“It’s going to be alright, Marinette! Master Fu chose you because he believes in you! He knows you are worthy of being the guardian. And I believe in you. You’re the best Ladybug I’ve known!

\- But it’s already so much to have the responsibilities that comes with being Ladybug, saving Paris all the time, keeping my secret identity and trying to defeat Hawkmoth. We may win each battle in the end, but we still haven’t gotten back the Butterfly Miraculous or the Peacock and we are not close to either. We have lost our master and we are just kids against adults more powerful than us.

\- Don’t underestimate yourself Marinette! It takes a really strong Miraculous Holder to use more than one miraculous at the time and you did it with four!

\- I know Tikki, but I’m not sure it’s going to be enough. I can’t do this all by myself.

\- You know I will always be there for you.

\- Of course, Tikki, but what happens if Hawkmoth gets my Miraculous? I need someone else I can completely rely on. Before, I always had Master Fu to turn to.

\- There is always Chat Noir. You are a strong team.

\- You’re right! I know what I’m going to do, Tikki. I will reveal my identity to Chat Noir and he, his. Master Fu knew our identity and I knew his so I could come to him when I needed help.

\- That’s not what I meant! Knowing each other identity is dangerous! You don’t need to in order to fight Hawkmoth.

\- But as long as we must keep our identity secret, that means we can’t be completely honest with each other. I already had to lie to Chat Noir before. I want to have someone with who I can be completely honest and from who I don’t have to hide a part of my life.

\- Are you not afraid that your superhero’s life and your civilian life will mix up?

\- I intend to make it clear with Chat Noir that the point is not to develop any kind of relationship outside of our superheroes’ life. Simply to develop a stronger team based on complete honesty.

\- Very well, Marinette. I see you’re determined and as the guardian, it is your right to make this decision. I trust your judgment."

Revived by the new plan taking form in her head, Marinette stood up and started planning how she was going to share her identity with Chat Noir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. I just like the potential of the show, but I'm often disappointed by how it isn't used. After watching Miracle Queen, I just had this idea going around in my head and I decided to write it down even though I've never done fanfics before.


	2. Rooftop Confession

“So, Mr. Pigeon again? We should find him some meditation classes,” joked Chat Noir.

Ladybug didn’t answer as she kept her gaze fixed on the horizon. They were so used at this point to fight this akumatized villain that they haven’t even needed to use the Lucky Charm and the Cataclysm. Ladybug had told Chat Noir she needed to talk to him and they had gone to a nearby rooftop after making sure that Mr. Ramier was safe.

Chat Noir felt nervous at his Lady’s seriousness. She didn’t often laugh at his jokes, but she usually had a little smile or a reproving frown at least. Now, she looked preoccupied and like she had forgotten his presence for the moment.

“Ladybug? What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” he inquired.

She finally turned to face him and he felt prompted to stand up from his seated position to face her. Their eyes met and she seemed to be trying to read him with her deep bluebell eyes. Finally, she began to talk:

“I have thought about it long and hard and I believe we need to be completely honest with each other.-

\- Do you believe I am being untruthful with you, My Lady???

\- No! It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s this situation that’s forcing us to lie to each other.

\- I’m not sure I’m following you.

\- Our secret identity. We always have to be careful with what we tell each other. It’s exhausting always having to make up excuses to keep all suspicions away. I think we need to have at least one person with who we know we can always tell the truth and that we know will do the same.

\- Don’t get me wrong, I would love to know who’s hiding behind this mask, but always before you said it was too dangerous to know each other identities. What changed regarding that?

\- It will be dangerous. If you were akumatized again, my secret identity would be compromised, but while protecting us, our secret identities also form a wall between us that stops us to support each other as much as we could. It’s frustrating for the two of us to have to keep things from the other and to have things being kept from us. Even more for you as you didn’t have Master Fu to turn to. As the new guardian, I think we need to do this to become a stronger team.

\- I want this, but at the same time, I’m so scared I’ll be responsible of putting you in danger!

\- I need you to help me carry the burden of being the guardian of the Miraculous box. I need you to rely on.

\- You can count on me then. So… do we just detransform now, here and there?

\- No! We are way too exposed. Can you meet me at the Place des Vosges next to the fountain tomorrow at 4pm?

\- I think I can manage.

\- Come as a civilian. See you tomorrow.”

Without leaving him a chance to answer, Ladybug used her yoyo to jump on the next rooftop and was soon lost to view. Chat Noir continued staring in the direction she had disappeared long after there was nothing left to see. After all this time… He had completely lost hope of ever finding out who she was and now suddenly, she had decided it was time. He felt like he should be excited, even ecstatic, but all he felt was apprehension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to continue to update daily. Hope you like this new addition.


	3. Meeting Place

Adrien detransformed in an alley not far from the Place des Vosges. He was early, but the wait in his room, pacing until he felt like he had walked miles, had become unbearable. He walked toward the Place, trying to look natural, not as if his heart was beating so hard he was afraid the people that walked past him would hear it. He reached the fountain and sat on the rim, looking around. There were a few families playing in the park and he could see an old man sitting on a bench further, but no trace of a young girl with dark hair and bluebell eyes. He tried to sit still while looking around, his body tense in expectation. Why had she chosen this place? He could agree that a rooftop was not the safest place and that too many people could see them, but this place was even more public. He guessed that being in their civilian forms, they wouldn’t attract as much notice, but he was still known as Adrien Agreste and he saw that some people had already noticed him, children pointing him to their parents. This really wasn’t the best place to have a private conversation.

He turned toward the fountain, looking for something to occupy this mind. The fountain was empty that day. It reminded him of the time he had hid in it with Marinette when his bodyguard was looking for him. He hoped his absence wouldn’t be noticed too soon this time. Just as he was turning back to the park to look again for Ladybug, something caught his attention. Taped on the side was a piece of paper he hadn’t noticed before. Frowning, Adrien took it and began to read:

“Hello Kitty! I got a little bit hungry. Go to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery on the other side of the street and order a passion fruit macaroon and I’ll know it’s you.”

Adrien stared at the note for a moment. The writing looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen it before. This sounded like Ladybug in any case. No simple “Let’s met there”, of course she was going to have a multi-stepped plan to make sure everything went well. The thing that added to his nervousness though was the macaroon she had chosen. Was it a coincidence or did she know it was is favorite? He couldn’t remember having ever told her. Well, he was going to have an answer to all those questions soon anyways. He stood up, shoved the note in his back pocket and walked to the bakery.

The bell rang as he entered and he joined the short queue in front of the counter. He tried to look at the other customers in an unsuspicious way, but there was only a young man and an old woman. He started to be nervous, wondering if he should wait before ordering. If Ladybug wasn’t there, he didn’t want to have to come back ten minutes later and order the same thing for her to see this time. Sabine was at the checkout and he could see Marinette helping her father in the back. When she turned to him, he smiled and waved. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw him, and then she raised her hand to wave back so fast she would have overturned a tray full of croissants if her father hadn’t been there to catch it. She made a contrite smile to her father before walking toward Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short. I wanted to add something today, but I didn't have much time to write.


	4. Coincidences

Marinette walked toward Adrien, all her attention focused on not tripping over her own feet. What was he doing here all by himself? It wasn’t a good timing with her waiting for Chat Noir. She had a box with passion fruit macaroons ready with a note giving him directions for a meeting place, so she could join him there and be sure of what he looked like. It wouldn’t do to reveal herself as Ladybug to the wrong person. But for now, there didn’t seem to be any sign of Chat Noir. It was only 3:50pm, he was probably on his way. She couldn’t just ignore Adrien.

“Hey!” she exclaimed cheerfully, “what brings you here, Adrien?”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said: “Macaroons. Though it is nice to see you too.”

He smiled at her, but he looked distracted. Marinette frowned.

“I’m surprised your father would let you out to go buy macaroons. I thought he would be more likely to send someone like Nathalie.”

Panic flashed in Adrien’s eyes and he let out a nervous laugh.

“My father trusts me enough to let me out sometimes now. Isn’t it nice?

\- I thought he didn’t let you out because he was afraid for your safet…”

She trailed off, her eyes fixed on his right hand as he pushed his hair out of his face with a absent gesture. In fact, her eyes were more focused on the familiar grey ring that had caught the light for an instant.

“Marinette, are you okay?

-Why don’t you come upstairs? I’ll give you free macaroons.”

Without leaving him time to protest, she grabbed his right arm and pulled him toward the back of the shop. He held back at first, surprised, and then followed her. While walking toward the stairs leading to the apartment on the upper floor, Marinette turned toward her parents and said:

“I forgot I told Adrien to come over to study for our science exam. I’ll come back to help you as soon as we’re done.

\- What science…”

Marinette flashed him a warning look. He stopped mid-sentence and seemed to accept he was not going to have any answer in the bakery. Marinette kept his arm in her grip until the door of the apartment was closed behind them. Then, she took his hand to look more closely at the ring. As soon as Adrien notice her interest for it, he snatched his hand back, but it didn’t matter. She had seen enough to confirm her suspicions. She may have used it only once, but she was sure what Chat Noir’s ring looked like. Just to have a last confirmation, she asked:

“So, what macaroons did you want exactly?

\- Well, I was thinking about the passion fruit ones. But really Marinette, no need to give them to me for free. I can go backstairs and buy them. “

He made as if to do just that and as he turned, Marinette saw a piece of paper sticking out of his back pocket. She snatched it and with a glance, she recognized the note she had left in the fountain. She could believe in coincidences, but this was too much. She looked up to stare into the panicked eyes of the boy she also knew as Chat Noir.


	5. Confrontation

“Marinette, it’s not what you think,” exclaimed Adrien, desperate. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but he didn’t like any of the possible conclusion she could be coming too, the worst being that he was Chat Noir. Just when his Lady was trusting him enough to reveal her identity to him, he was failing to keep his safely secret. He tried to make up a convincing story on the spot that explained his presence in the bakery by himself, the note and make her forget about his ring as she had seemed way too interested in it. He wanted to hit himself for not thinking about making up an excuse earlier, but then, he was only expecting to meet Ladybug at the Place des Vosges, not having to explain himself to Marinette at the bakery. He was on the point of saying that his father called him Kitty and that he had send him buy the macaroons when Marinette spoke up:

“Why don’t you come upstairs in my room? There will be less chance of my parents interrupting.”

On those words, she turned her back to him and went up the ladder. He hesitated, wondering if he shouldn’t take the chance to go and find Ladybug who should be waiting for him. He finally concluded that it would only add to Marinette’s apparent suspicions and followed her, his stomach clenched. 

As he emerged from the trapdoor, he saw she was sitting on her desk chair, her hands gripping the edge of her seat, watching him. He went to sit on the chaise lounge and she turned to face him and said:

“So, you’re Chat Noir.”

He felt as if his heart had skipped a beat. Unable to utter a single word, he tried to laugh, as if she had said a good joke, but the short sound was not convincing to his ears. Trying to gain back some composure, he feigned confusion and said:

“What makes you say that?”

Marinette looked him in the eyes and he saw the left corner of her lips turned up as she said:

“You got my note, didn’t you?

\- Your note?” he answered, not understanding at first.

Then, his eyes widened. He suddenly stood up and grabbed the note that lay on the desk. Again, the handwriting looked familiar. While she watched him, he looked around and found a notebook laying next to the computer and opened it. Putting the note flat next to it, he realized it was indeed Marinette’s handwriting he had recognized from the time she had wrote him a note with the school material he missed. He turned and found himself looking directly into deep bluebell eyes. As his gaze took in the girl in front of him, he found himself wondering why he hadn’t figured it out earlier. Now that he knew, he couldn’t help but recognize Ladybug’s contained amusement in Marinette’s face as she obviously did her best to not burst out laughing in his face.

All this time, she was right there within his reach and he had been too blind to see. True, he hadn’t been supposed to try to find out who she was, but he still felt as if he should have known. It made him afraid his feelings for Ladybug were not worth as much as he thought if he couldn’t even recognize her outside of the costume. After Kwamibuster, he had wondered who at Collège Françoise Dupont she could be, but he hadn’t considered someone he really knew. Except he had, didn’t he? He had wondered if it could be Marinette after seeing her go to the bathroom just as he was doing the same. And then, he had seen them side by side, Ladybug and Marinette. That thought jerked him out of his reverie. He turned back his attention to Marinette who seemed to have gotten her amusement under control. He broke the silence:

“How did you do it?

\- What are you talking about?

\- When we fought Kwamibuster. How is it if you’re Ladybug that I saw you next to her?

\- Oh, that. I had to make sure you wouldn’t suspect me of being Ladybug after Tikki was seen at school.

\- But how?

\- As I was using the mouse miraculous, I had one of my little self use the fox miraculous to create an illusion. What you saw, me as Marinette giving the miraculous back to Ladybug was not real.

\- But…how many miraculouses were you using at the same time?

\- About four, counting yours, but I didn’t use it for a long time.”

He stared at her, shocked. He knew using only two was dangerous and when they had done it to fight Miracle Queen, he had considered it risky. But using four was recklessness.

“You put yourself in danger only so you could keep your identity secret from me???

\- I only used the fox miraculous for that purpose! I needed the three others for my plan against Kwamibuster to work.

\- Each miraculous you add drains you more!

\- Do we really need to talk about this? That’s why we’re doing this, isn’t it? So we can trust each other and avoid situations like that to happen again.”

Adrien stopped himself and felt pained as she avoided his gaze. He hadn’t imagined this was how his first conversation with his Lady unmasked would go. He knelt next to her chair and said:

“I’m sorry, Bugaboo. I know you’re always trying to do your best. I’m only worried about you.”

She gave him a small smile and slide to the ground next to him so they could be to the same level. She looked so vulnerable at this moment and he could see how the burden of her role as Ladybug and guardian weighted on her. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked more slumped than usual. She wasn’t acting confident like he had grown used to expect from his partner. But that was alright. It was why he was here after all. He smiled warmly at her and wrapped her in a big hug, her face against his chest. At first, she tensed, and then she melted, putting her arms around him and holding him as if she would never let go. 


	6. What about them?

After holding each other for a long time in a comfortable silence, Marinette unfastened her arms from around Adrien and he let her go. She looked into his eyes and saw all the affection he had for her in them. It made her glad that they had revealed each other identity. It would have saved her a lot of pain if they had done it earlier. On the other hand, she felt that the fact they had grown close as superheroes and as civilians made it easier. She wasn’t sure how she would have reacted to Chat Noir being Adrien when she couldn’t utter a complete sentence in front of him without tripping on her words. Still, she felt like she was going to need some time to completely process that they were the same person.

“So,” she said, breaking the silence. “I was planning on us keeping our relationship completely separate from our civilian life, but it may be a bit more complicated as we already know each other as civilians.

\- I don’t really see the problem. We are still friends as Ladybug and Chat Noir and we are still friends as Marinette and Adrien.

\- But we can’t also be friends as Marinette and Chat Noir or as Ladybug and Adrien. It would draw too much attention to our civilian self.

\- Alright then. We ‘ll be careful and pretend we don’t know each other.”

He winked at her and for the first time she really recognized the mischievous expression that was so usual for Chat Noir, but that Adrien didn’t usually betray. They were so… different. But at the same time, were they really? As Chat Noir, he joked all the time and never seemed to take things seriously, but she had also seen him more vulnerable. She remembered when he visited her on her balcony because he didn’t want to be alone or when he shared his feelings for her. And how she turned him away because she loved someone else. Well, now that they knew each other identity, she didn’t have excuses for not telling him who that someone else was. She resolved herself to tell him, but as her lips parted, she remembered Kagami. She had a sudden image of Adrien and Kagami sharing an ice cream from André and laughing and she faltered. Adrien must have seen her troubled expression, because he frowned at her. Before he had the chance to ask her is she was alright, she blurted out:

“Do you love Kagami?”

She froze, not believing she could have been so direct. He looked at her, startled. Then, he began hesitantly:

“Kagami is important to me.

\- But do you…are you dating?

\- I think so. I mean, I know she wants us to.

\- And what about you? Do you want to?”

Adrien looked away. He began playing with a piece of strings, avoiding her gaze. Finally, he said:

“I think I need time to get comfortable with the idea.

\- Why is that?”

At that, he raised his head and looked her in the eyes. She could see she had hurt him and immediately felt bad.

“Why do you think? And what about you? How is it going with that boy you kept mentioning? I suppose it’s Luka you were talking about, right?”

Marinette felt herself turning red. Why was it so difficult to say? Adrien seemed so open with his feelings and she couldn’t say a single little sentence. She took a deep breath and then mumbled with her head bowed:

“It was you.

\- What? What did you say? I didn’t hear.”

She looked up to see Adrien confuse face and she cleared her throat and said in a louder than necessary voice:

“It’s you. The boy I was talking about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long time with no update. I hope I will be able to continue more regularly.


	7. What it means to love

Adrien stared at Marinette as if he was seeing her for the first time. His first thought was it had to be a joke. But then, he didn’t believe she would make fun of his feelings like that. She had rejected him many times as Ladybug, but she had never been outright mean and she looked definitely more embarrassed than amused. It was like since he first learned her secret identity, he had tried to think of her mainly as Marinette, his clumsy and sweet friend who, while she was really dear to him, was just a good friend. It helped him push away the feelings he thought were unrequited. Except they weren’t actually.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked in a soft voice, incomprehension painting his face.

“I told you we couldn’t know anything about each other to keep our identities safe.

\- I mean, why didn’t you told me, as Adrien?

\- Well… I actually tried. But every time I was able to gather enough courage to go for it, something went wrong and then, I didn’t dare try again. Like that time I sent you a Valentine card and forgot to sign.”

Adrien’s eyes widened, and then he burst out laughing. Marinette’s cheeks turned a deep red, but more from anger this time than embarrassment.

“It’s embarrassing enough for me to expose myself like that without you making fun of it!” she exclaimed. “Don’t ask me after that why I was afraid of telling you. I wouldn’t have wanted you to laugh in my face like that!”

Those last words sobered up Adrien who was able to stop laughing and take a semblance of a straight face. Then he said:

“I’m sorry, Marinette. I’m not laughing at you actually, but at myself. I received your card. You answered my poem, didn’t you? It would make sense as you could have taken it from the wastepaper basket in the class. I intended the poem for Ladybug and when I got your answer not signed, I wondered if it was from Ladybug, but concluded she couldn’t have known my address. Then, when you dropped the homework at my home with your little note, I noticed it was the same handwriting and wondered if you could have written it. In the end, I concluded it was just a coincidence, because I was convinced you liked Luka. So now, I feel like a complete idiot for having been so close to the truth and completely bypass it.”

Marinette looked at him in wonder, then shook her head.

“That whole superhero thing did complicate our relationship a lot, didn’t it? But be honest Adrien, if I had signed my card, what would it have changed? You were in love with Ladybug, not Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You would not have returned my feelings.

\- Am in love. Not were. Even though my feelings have had it hard, I’m still in love with Ladybug. How could I stop loving this girl who always stands up for others, would it be to protect them from a villain who akumatized people or to defend her friends against a bully?

\- How can you say that sort of things just like that? How can you not feel vulnerable when you’re spreading all your feelings like that to the world?

\- Not to the world. To you. I trust you as my partner and as Marinette, you have always been there to comfort me when I felt down and had no one else to turn to. We got each other back.”

Adrien saw Marinette’s expression turn sad as she took his words’ in. Then, she stood up and made him a sign to stay there. A moment later, she was back with a box. She opened it and revealed a dozen of passion fruit macaroons aligned in two rows. He hesitantly took one, not sure why she had suddenly felt the need to go fetch them. She smiled at him, then said:

“Nobody should feel alone, Adrien. I want you to consider this home as your own. That means none of this nonsense of paying for your macaroons or waiting to be invited to come by. I have no doubt my parents will welcome you gladly. I declared you an honorary Dupain-Cheng.”

Tears welled up in Adrien’s eyes and he threw himself in Marinette’s arms, making her drop the macaroons and fell back from his momentum. He heard her silent laugh as her chest shook under his face and she patted his back affectionally. As her laughter subsided, she pushed him gently to sit up. He smiled at her while drying his tears with the hem of his shirt and said, with a smile:

“I think I already won your dad over as Chat Noir. I’m pretty sure I can do so again as my charming self, especially if I don’t turn you down this time. Though that does bring me to ask what made you confess the first time while you were supposedly not in love with my feline personae.

\- You followed me on my balcony just after I detransformed and I thought you had figured it out. So, I kind of panicked and used the first excuse that came to mind.

\- I feel like a lot of my questions are going to be explained by protecting our secret identity. Don’t you think it could have been your subconscious speaking out?”

Instead of answering, she made to give him a playful push, but she miscalculated and as he moved to avoid her, she fell into his lap. As she straightened, her face came just next to his and he asked with a grin:

“Are you trying to kiss me, My Lady?”

Her eyes twinkled and she leaned forward, closing her eyes. Adrien closed his too and their lips met in a gentle, yet firm kiss. Adrien slowly put his arms around her lower back and she entangled her hands behind his neck and for a moment, it seemed like nothing except themselves existed.


End file.
